William P.
McCLAIN, a leading attorney of Henderson and
native of that place, is the son of William McCLAIN, who was also
a native of Henderson and an extensive and wealthy farmer of Henderson
County. He had large possessions in land and other property, including
one hundred and eighty-five slaves, whom he set free of his own volition.
His tobacco crop alone for one year sold for seventy-five thousand dollars.
He married Virginia POLLITT of Henderson, daughter of James
POLLITT, one of the first merchants in Henderson, who died of cholera
in 1832. William McCLAIN (father) died in 1885, aged sixty-one
years. James McCLAIN
(grandfather) was a native of Kentucky and his father was from Maryland.
Colonel Jackson McCLAIN (uncle), brother of James McCLAIN,
a colonel on Governor POWELL's staff, died in 1891. Virginia Cabell
McCLAIN (grandmother) was a member of the noted CABELL family
of Virginia who were descended from POCAHONTAS. She was left
a widow and married Governor DIXON of Kentucky. W. P. McCLAIN,
after his primary schooling in Henderson, attended Notre Dame College,
in Indiana, graduating with the degree of A.B. in 1869. He then attended
the University of Virginia and graduated from the law department of
that institution in 1872; remained there two years longer; was licensed
to practice in the Supreme Court of Missouri; subsequently began the
practice of law in Henderson. He was elected city attorney in 1880,
and resigned that office in 1881 to accept the office of county attorney,
which he held for fourteen years consecutively, at the same time attending
to a growing general practice in all the courts. He was a candidate
before the Democratic Convention for the nomination for congressman
in 1894 and made a brilliant campaign, but was defeated in the convention
by a small vote. He received 9 1/2 of the 11 votes of the Henderson
County delegation, which Mr. VANCE, his local opponent, received
1/2 votes, throwing the nomination to John D. CLARDY of Christian
County. His friends will urge him to become the congressional candidate
of his party in 1896. Mr. McCLAIN is
one of the foremost men at the Henderson bar; a leader in the Democratic
party and one of the prominent citizens of Henderson. He married Mary GARLAND, daughter of Dr. Richard GARLAND of Henderson. Kentucky Biographies, John W. Gresham, 1896 WILLIAM P. McCLAIN REFERENCES |
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MARRIAGES IN HENDERSON
COUNTY, 1806 - 1858 Jackson McClain
- Maria L. Watson, 25 Feb 1841, Book 001, Page 076 |
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MARRIAGES IN HENDERSON COUNTY, 1858 - 1900 Noah McClain
- Sarah Ann Lewis, 02 Dec 1858, Book 004, Page 079 |
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INTERMENT RECORDS James McClain,
16 Apr 1843, Fernwood, Age unknown, 557, 7 |
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